HEADLINES

PCCC Represented in an Exhibition Honoring Epic Poem“Paterson” by William Carlos Williams

PCCC English professor , poet, and photographer Mark Hillringhouse is among the 14 artists who collaborated on an exhibition tribute to the epic poem, Paterson, by the Rutherford, New Jersey physician/poet William Carlos Williams (1883-1963). Paterson: The Provence of the Poem/The City as Metaphor is now showing at the Ben Shahn Galleries, William Paterson University in Wayne.

The famous five-volume poem was written between 1946 and 1958 and vividly depicts Williams’ impressions of Paterson and of the city’s landmark Great Falls. The exhibit honoring the poem features three black and white landscape photographs by Hillringhouse as well as two artworks on loan from the PCCC Contemporary Art Collection, a photograph, Allen Ginsberg by Giacomo De Stefano and a painting, Garret Mountain by Paterson artist Walter Eres. All works in the exhibit were inspired by aspects of the city.

Long intrigued by urban landscapes, Hillringhouse studied alongside the celebrated fine-art photographer George Tice, whose work includes numerous studies of Paterson.“I have always recognized the inherent beauty in a place like Paterson, in its old mills and factories, and in its people and in the Passaic River and the Great Falls that make this a unique industrial urban city,” said Hillringhouse.

Winter Falls; Mark Hillringhouse, 2007

Commenting on his powerful photo, “Winter Falls,” Hillringhouse explained, “This image, for me, evokes the industrial past of Paterson and it captures a 19th century past, that I see evidence of all over the downtown, especially as I look up from the street level where I see the 19th century preserved in the forgotten second and third stories of the old stores and banks downtown.”

Hillringhouse was also featured in an article about the exhibit by arts writer Jim Beckerman and published September 20 in The Record.

Paterson: The Provence of the Poem/The City as Metaphor runs through October 16 at the Ben Shahn Galleries, William Paterson University, Wayne. Gallery hours are 10 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. Admission is free.

About Mark Hillringhouse

Mark Hillringhouse is an Assistant Professor of English at Passaic County Community College where he has also taught art history and philosophy. A published poet and photographer, his work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, The New York Times, The New Jersey Monthly, and The Paris Review, among others. He also writes regularly for the photography magazines View Camera, Photo-Eye, and Photo-Review.

Hillinghouse has won three fellowships for poetry from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He also works with the prestigious Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Poetry Program.

His recent photo exhibitions include one of his “New York City Bridges” series in the Warner Gallery in Millbrook, New York, the Main Street Gallery’s “Photography Juried Competition,” and a one-man show titled “Parts of a World” at the Hamilton Club Gallery. His photography was selected for the “Annual Photography and Graphic Art Exhibition” in June 2009 at the Salmagundi Club in New York.

Hillringhouse’s new book of poetry and photography will be published soon by ServingHouse Books in Washington, D. C. and a short story will appear next May in the anthology “What’s Your Exit” by Word Riot Press.